Phonograph-record cleaner and protector.



E. L. CHRBSTIAN. PHONOGRAPH RECORD CLEANEB AND PROTECTOR. APPLICATIONFILED MAY 22. 1911.

LMQRQQ, Patented Dec. 11,1917.

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ED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDWARD LOOHIS CHRISTIAN, 0F DOUGLAS, ARIZOHiA-e PHONdGBAPH-BEGORDGLEANER AND IROTECTOR.

' Specification oflettcra Patent.

Patented Dec. 1i, 1917.

Application 22,1917. Serial no. 170,257.

To all whom it may concern."

Be it known that I, EDWARD L. Onnrsmn, a citizen of the United States,residin at Douglas, in the county of Cochise and btate of Arizona, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Phonograph-RecordCleaners and Protectors, of which the following is a specification;

This invention relates to an improved record cleaner and protector forphonographs and has as its primary object to provide a device of thischaracter which may be attached to the sound box of the phonograph inthe rear of the stylus and automatica 1y operable to engage thephonograph record upon the movement of the sound box toward the recordfor supporting the sound box in position with the needle s aced from therecord to thus prevent t e marring or scratching of the record by theaccidental fall of the sound box.

The invention has as a further object to provide a construction whereinafter the sound box has been moved to engage the protector with therecord of the phonograph, the protector may then be swung to inactiveposition for permitting the movement of the sound box to engage theneedle with the record.

And the invention has as a still further object to provide aconstruction wherein the protector when swung to inactive position willrovide a cleaner or sweep for the record or removing the dust therefromas the record is revolved beneath the needle of the phonograph.

Other and incidental objects will appear as the description proceeds andin the drawings wherein I have illustrated the preferred embodiment ofthe invention and wherein similar reference characters designatecorresponding parts throughout the several views:

Figure 1 is a side elevation showing a portion of a conventional type ofphonograph with the sound box thereof equipped with my improvedprotector, the protector being swung to inactive position to provide acleaner for the. phonograph record in the rear of the needle,

Fig. 2 is a similar View showing the protector in active positionsupporting the sound box with the needle of the phonograph spaced fromthe record, this view also illustrating in dotted lines the manner inwhich the body of the protector is adapted to gravitate to activeposition upon the movement of thesound boxto seat the phono raph needleu pon the record, 1g. 3 1s a detail View showin the device detached withthe parts thereof disconnected from each other, and

Fig. 4 is a detail sideelevation showing a slightly modified form of theinvention.

In carrying out the invention, my improved protector is formed with abody 10 the front lower corner of which is rounded off as indicated'at11. Swingingly support ing the body is a substantially U'shapedattaching member or clamp 12 provided with a set screw 13 adjustablethrough one arm of the clamp. Projecting laterally from the bottom ofthe clamp-is a hinge lug l3 loosely received in a suitable slot in theup er extremity of the body 10 and pivotal y connecting the body withthe clamp is a pivot pin 14 extending through the said lug. At theuptper end of the body, the rear corner thereo is cut away or roundedoff as shown at 15. The body is thus mounted to swing in one directionupon the clamp with the upper end of the body adapted to coact with thebottom of the clamp for locking the clamp in substantially verticalposition against swinging movement beyond its pivotal center in theopposite direction. Formed in opposite sides of the body adjacent itsupper extremity are oppositely disposed notches or grooves 16 and fittedaround the lower end of the body is a shoe or cleaning element 17extending above the said grooves. The cleaning element 17 may be formedof suitable fabric such as velvet or plush and detachably connecting thesaid element with the body is a split resilient clip 18 extend-'95 ingaround the body to fit within the said grooves and fyieldably engageover the upper extremity o the cleaning element. While I have indicatedthat the cleaning element 17 is preferably formed of fabric still, I donot wlsh to be limited to this particular construction and the termcleaning element as herein used is accordingly intended to be construedin its broadest sense so as to include a brush. However, the saidelement should be of such nature as to in effect form a cushion upon thelower end of the body 10.

In order that the construction, mounting and operation of my improvedprotector may be accurately understood I have, in the drawings, shownthe device in connection with a conventional type of phonograph over thetable is a swinging amplifying horn to the outer end of which is looselyconnected a goose-neck 23 having a sound box 21 secured thereto.Connected with the diaphragm of the sound box is the pivoted stylus bar25 which, at its outer end, carries a needle 26 for engagement with therecord 21. As will now be observed, the clamp 12 is formed to fit aroundthe casing of the sound box 2L in the rear of the stylus bar 25 and isdetachably connected to the said sound box by the set screw 13 with thebody 10 adapted to assume a vertical position when the sound box isswung forwardly upon the horn 22. As is well known, the sound box is,when in inactive position, rested against the tone arm so that whenswinging the said sound box forwardly toward the record 21, the body 10of the protector will, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2, normallygravitate upon the clamp 12 to assume a vertical active positionprojecting below the lower end of the needle. Since the body 10 of theprotector is formed to cooperate with the clamp 12 for locking the bodyagainst forward pivotal movement upon the clamp, rotation of the record21 with the table 20 cannot act to displace the body so that the bodywill thus engage with the record to support the sound box in positionwith the needle spaced from the record. Consequently, should the soundbox he accidentally allowed to fall, my improved protector willtherefore automatically operate to prevent the contact of the needlewith the record with the cleaning element 17 acting as a cushion beneaththe body 10 for preventing the marring or scratching of the record.Moreover, it will be observed that the protector will prevent the needlefrom scratching the record should the sound box be swung across therecord with the horn 22.

After the sound box has been moved to engage the protector with therecord of the phonograph, as shown in Fig. 2, the body 10 of theprotector may then be manually swung rearwardly when the sound box may,as illustrated in Fig. 1, be lowered to engage the needle 26 with therecord. In this latter position of the body 10, the said body will rideupon the record in the rear of the needle 26 as the record revolves sothat the cleaning element 17 will act to clean the record of any dust orother foreign matter thereon before coming in contact with the needle.In this connection, it will be-observed that with the body 10 swung, asillustrated in Fig. 1, the rounded corner 11 of the body will bepresented to the record and in being so rounded will not tend to cutthrough the cleaning element 17. However, when one cleaning elementbecomes worn out, another may be readily substituted therefor by simplyremoving the clip 18.

It will therefore be seen that I provide a particularly simple andetiicient construction for the purpose set forth and a device adaptedfor attachment to substantially any conventional type of phonograph.Furthermore, the device is so attached to the phonograph sound box thatthe presence of the device upon the said box will not result to thedetriment of the tone reproducing qualities thereof.

In Fig. l of the drawings, I have illustrated a slight modification ofthe invention which relates more particularly to the mounting of thecleaning element. In this modification, the attaching clamp of thedevice is indicated at 27 and swingingly connected to the said clamp isa body 28. The clamp 27 is identical with the clamp of the preferredform of the invention and the body 28 is mounted in a similar manner. Atits lower extremity, the body 28 is formed to provide an undercutchannel 29 upon the forward side thereof and a similarly undercutchannel 30 upon the lower end of the body with an angle 31 between thesaid channels at the forward lower corner of the body. Fitted around thebody is a cleaning element 32 of felt, cloth, or other approvedmaterial. This cleaning element is slit transversely intermediate theends thereof and is formed at its ends to fit within the channels 29 and30 with the intermediate portion of the said element bent around theangle 31 of the body. In this position, the cleaning element may beglued in place with the channels 29 and 30 acting to effectually securethe cleaning element upon the body. This provides a very simple means ofmounting the cleaning element and since the operation of thismodification of the invention is identical with the preferred form ofthe invention, a further description thereof will" not be given.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. The combination with a phonograph sound box including a stylus barand a needle carried by the stylus bar, of a record protector carried bythe sound box, the said protector including a body, and an attachingmember pivotally supporting the body and engaged with the sound box, thebody being adapted to normally gravitate to a position projecting belowthe needle coacting at its inner extremity with the attaching member forholding the body against forward pivotal movement upon the said member.

2. A record protector for phonographs including a body, and an attachingmember pivotally supporting the body, the body being mounted to swingupon the said memlib her in a direction opposite to the rotary movementof the record and being limited in its swinging movement in a directionwith the movement of the record.

3. A record protector for phono raphs including a body, an attaching memer swingingly supporting the body, and shoulders formed on the body tocoact with the said member for limiting the body in its swingingmovement upon the member in a direction with the rotary movement of therecord to support the body in active vertical position.

4. A record protector for phonographs including a body, an attachingmember pivotally supporting the body, the body being mounted to swing inone direction upon the said member, and a cleaning element carried bythe body, the said cleaning element providing a cushion arranged tocontact with the record.

5. A combined protector and cleaner for phonograph records including abody, an attaching member supporting the body to normally gravitate in adirection with the rotary movement of the record to locked activeposition, and a cleaning element carried by the body for sweeping therecord in the inactive position of the body.

6. A record protector for phonographsineluding a body, an attachingmember pivotally supporting the body, a cleaning element extendingaround the lower end of the body, and a clip detachably connecting thesaid element with the bod r In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature.

EDWARD Looms CHRISTIAN. [n it]

